BIRDS 



2. Song-Thrush. Turdus musicus, Linn. 



Locally, Grey Bird, Snailjobber. 

 A common resident. During a severe 

 winter or a dry season partial migrations 

 occur to the vicinity of the sea-coast, where 

 the birds feed on mussels and marine insects 

 along the shore. After a time these indi- 

 viduals become dark in plumage. 



3. Redwing. Turdus iliacus, Linn. 



A winter migrant to the county ; generally 

 appearing towards the middle of October in 

 small parties, in company with the fieldfare. 

 These are but advance guards of larger forces, 

 which come as the year nears its end ; the 

 numbers vary however according to the severity 

 of the winter. When the weather is mild and 

 open very few visit the county. During a 

 severe winter their numbers are large, and 

 they remain with us until the stores of holly 

 berries give out, when the greater number 

 disappear altogether from the county, and we 

 see no more of them until they pass in the 

 spring on their homeward journey, when they 

 have been observed as late as the end of 

 March. 



4. Fieldfare. Turdus pilaris, Linn. 



The remarks on the preceding species 

 apply equally to the fieldfare, which is also a 

 winter migrant to the county, but it stays 

 later than the redwing. 



5. Blackbird. Turdus merula, Linn. 



A common resident, which has increased 

 in numbers of late years, owing to the ex- 

 tension of fruit growing in Kent. Mulberries 

 form a favourite fruit of this bird. In Octo- 

 ber blackbirds leave our gardens for the most 

 part, and resort to the woods, where they seek 

 their living on ground moistened by fallen 

 leaves and dripping branches. The blackbird 

 is essentially a worm-feeding bird, and there 

 is not a doubt that fallen leaves attract worms 

 more readily to the surface. Partial migra- 

 tions occur in autumn and winter and again 

 in spring. 



6. Ring-Ouzel. Turdus torquatus, Linn. 

 Occurs in Kent as a migrant only. Mr, 



Walter Prentis says : ' The ring-ouzel passes 

 through Rainham on its passage north in 

 spring, south in autumn ; sometimes, when 

 food is to be had, staying a few days with 

 us ; always wild, choosing for its perch the 

 tops of trees.' In October, on its journey 

 southward, this bird resorts to furze-covered 

 commons near the sea, and should berries be 

 plentiful it prolongs its stay. It is by no 

 means a common migrant in the county. 



7. Wheatear. Saxicola cenanthe (Linn.) 

 Locally, Clod-hopper. 

 The wheatear arrives in Kent towards the 

 middle of March, and by the time that month 

 draws to an end becomes a familiar figure in 

 our coastland scenery. It is decidedly local 

 as a breeding species in the interior of the 

 county, its distribution varying according to 

 the condition of the spring. Should March 

 be an inclement month, not a few leave the 

 bleak land near the coast and pass further in- 

 land for summer quarters. The males appear 

 to precede the females, for on several occasions 

 when noting the arrival of this bird in spring 

 I have seen none but males. In Kent the 

 principal breeding localities of the wheatear 

 are the Lydd beach around Dungeness, Little- 

 stone and in the vicinities of Sandwich and 

 Pegwell Bays and Whitstable, while it nests 

 annually on the low ground between Graves- 

 end and Chatham. The firing-courses at 

 Lydd that now take place annually over this 

 wide tract of beach have apparently failed to 

 banish the wheatear, as they have several other 

 breeding species. In this locality curious un- 

 looked-for spots are often chosen by the birds 

 for their nests. Discarded tins, kettles, and 

 crevices in the gabion casemates are frequently 

 made use of; while in May 1896 the writer 

 discovered a nest inside an empty four- 

 pounder shell. Again, it is not unusual to 

 find the wheatear's nest in a depression on 

 the bare beach. In a case like this dry grass 

 alone is used, the nest resembling a large 

 edition of the lark's, but the normal feather 

 lining is then absent and the nest is thereby 

 rendered less conspicuous. In August a 

 congregating movement may be noticed, and 

 the numbers of birds bred on the south coast 

 are augmented for a short season by mi- 

 grants from the westward, especially on the 

 Sussex downs, where, in the days of our fore- 

 fathers, the shepherds carried on a regular trade 

 in these birds, which were looked upon as a 

 great delicacy. We read in Gilbert White's 

 letter to Daines Barrington in December 1 773 

 (Letter xvii.), that ' at the time of wheat har- 

 vest, they begin to be taken in great numbers 

 and sent for "sale in vast quantities to Bright- 

 helmstone and Tonbridge, and appear at the 

 tables of all the gentry that entertain with any 

 degree of elegance.' 



8. Whinchat. Pratincola rubetra (Linn.) 



A summer migrant to the county, arriving 

 in the second week of April and departing 

 again at the end of August, when parties of 

 young birds in their rufous and black plumage 

 may be observed lingering about waste land, 



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